The Trouble with Shadows
by lunettawolf321
Summary: A mysterious thief, enchanted monsters, and not a red potion in sight. What could possibly go wrong? One shot written in the Linked Universe AU from Jojo56830 on Tumblr


**Have any of you guys seen the Linked Universe AU on Tumblr by Jojo56830? I absolutely love it. This is a little oneshot for that AU and it takes place sometime after her latest post. I'm going to be honest, if you haven't seen the AU this is probably not gonna make any sense at all to you. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda series and this fabulous Linked Universe AU is by Jojo56830. **

It was late by the time the nine heroes found a place Time deemed suitable enough to camp in. The small clearing was surrounded by thick tree trunks that blocked out the soft light of the setting sun. A stream babbled just a little ways south of them and Wild, Twilight, and Wind had already headed over to try and catch something for dinner. Warrior let out a soft laugh as Wind's stern warning for Wild to not scare the fish this time drifted back to them. Hyrule and Four had gathered the fire wood and Time and he were busy laying out bedrolls. When they'd first begun their journey, everyone more or less took care of their needs on their own, whether that be dinner, water, or sleeping arrangements. But after a few weeks (and Wild's declaration that he couldn't stand by and watch the rest of them eat the slop they dared call food anymore) they'd settled into a routine of shared responsibilities.

It didn't take long for camp to be ready. They then whiled away the night with stories from their adventures, as always skirting around the personal details, with tired smiles on their faces. When Time declared that they should turn in for the night, Sky stood to take watch and the rest snuggled down into their covers, bellies full and the warmth of the fire carrying them off to sleep.

It wasn't too long later that Warriors' senses woke him. He had the strangest feeling something was in the camp that didn't belong. In his haze of sleep he almost pushed the worry away, his tired brain telling him it was most likely Wild's wolf friend coming to search for scraps or affectionate pats. A distant shout though had him bolting upright, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. Legend sat up from his place near him, cursing under his breath at whatever had woken them. There was a crash like glass breaking near the edge of the camp and suddenly Sky was bursting through the tree line, sword drawn and a look of worry on his young face.

"What is it?" Time asked as he stood to grab his blade.

"Someone was in the camp! They were searching through our stuff!" Angry shouts filled the night as nine pairs of eyes finally noticed the disarray around them. Magic bags were thrown about, there contents strewn over the ground. What looked like charred pieces of bandages were sitting in the embers of the fire, the rest seeming to have gone up in flames. Warriors smelled the sickly sweet scent of red potion from behind him and turned to see the broken remains of a bottle, the bright red liquid seeping into the ground.

"How could we have slept through this?" Twilight wondered.

"We'll worry about that later. Take Four and Wild with you and try to find whoever was in our camp," Time said, his one good eye on his protégé. The younger man nodded and set out with the two other boys. The rest of them gathered the items that had been tossed around.

"It seems like just my potions were taken," Warriors noticed as he finished shoving his belongings back into his bag.

"Same here," Said Hyrule.

It didn't take long for the others to get back, defeated, angry looks on their faces.

"The trail disappeared suddenly. We couldn't find it again." Twilight said.

"Anything important taken?" Four asked.

"Just all of our healing supplies." Legend said, annoyance making his tone icy. "And they threw our bandages into the fire so they're ruined as well."

"Everything is gone?" Wild picked up his bag and searched uselessly inside.

"Everything except this," Wind called. He held up a lone bottle with a fairy in it. "It was shoved in the bottom of my bag, the thief must not have noticed it."

"How did they get into camp without any of us noticing?" Warriors wondered. Sky glared at the ground.

"I don't know. I had my eyes on camp the entire time. It's like they suddenly appeared out of thin air."

"Well a normal thief wouldn't have passed on all of our weapons. They'd fetch a lot more rupies than a dozen potions."

"Well there's nothing we can do about it right now. We're not near a town yet and it's still late. I say we try and get some more rest. Though a couple of us should stay awake to watch in case the thief comes back. I'll be one of them." Time said sitting down, his back straight and face alert. Twilight also volunteered, sitting opposite of his senior. The rest layed down and tried to fall asleep, but it was fitful and Warriors spent the rest of the night with the feeling of eyes watching him in the dark.

The next morning they gathered their things quickly and, with a little help from the map on Wild's slate, headed in the direction of the nearest town. It was the opposite of where they were going, but they all agreed it was better to backtrack then risk going further without the proper supplies. It was noon by the time they exited the forest they'd spent the night in, the sun shining brightly above them and the air feeling sticky with humidity. Warriors wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. He hated sweating.

The sound of a horn caught them off guard and before they knew it they were surrounded by monsters. A dozen red bokoblins waved clubs and small swords at them, their tongues hanging out as they growled and screamed their guttural language. Huge black moblins towered over them, swinging spiked weapons haphazardly. They nine heroes jumped into the action, Wind, Twilight, and Wild distancing themselves from the onslaught so they could take aim with their bows. Warriors had his back to Legend, his friend swiping at two bokoblins with his tempered sword. The younger boy got a good swipe into the chest of one beast, and Warriors saw with dismay the monsters blood was a strange blackened color.

"They're enchanted!" Legend called. His words seemed to ignite a fire in his allies. They swung at their opponents with sudden ferocity. Warriors knew the others were thinking the same thing as him, We can't let a battle like this go on too long. Every second the fight was prolonged with the magically enhanced monsters, the more risky it became for them. Especially with only the one fairy between them.

A yelp of pain rang through the air. Warriors turned to see Four stumbling to the ground, a hand pressed to a gash on his stomach. It was bleeding heavily, crimson staining the multicolored fabric of his tunic. Sky jumped in front of him to defend the injured boy from the attacking beast. There was a resounding clang as Sky swung the Master Sword down to meet the bokoblin's weapon. There was a brief struggle and then Sky was able to knock the blade out of the monsters hands. With a yell he thrust his sword forward, swiftly ending the beast.

Twilight and the others had picked off quite a few of the attacking monsters with their arrows. All that was left was one of the black moblins and it roared in anger at its fallen comrades. Warriors stood in front of it, staring it down with a fierce glare. It swung its spiked club, so he deftly dodged to the side. Again and again it tried to strike him, but Warriors was too quick. Finally, the beast slammed his club into the ground, the spikes sticking into the dirt. Warriors saw his chance. He lunged forward and swung, leaving a gash from shoulder to hip on the moblin. It yelled in pain as it fell to the ground, its life slowly leaving it. They looked around at the fallen monsters, out of breath from the fight.

"At least we handled that quickly," Legend said. He stepped forward to check on Four.

An arrow came out of the woods and struck the blonde hero in the leg. Legend let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground. He grabbed at his injured thigh. Time jumped forward as Wild and Hyrule ran into the forest. They could hear the screech of the hidden archer as it was surrounded. Warriors bent beside his friend. The arrow, which had a strange black arrowhead, had at least gone all the way through and didn't seem to be near an artery. They helped the lad to sit up, careful of the injury.

"We should pull it out and use Wind's fairy." Warrior told Time. The older man shook his head.

"Four is injured as well. Perhaps we could ask her to spread her magic between them both."

"No." Legend stated. His teeth were clenched as he tried to brush them off. "Use her on him. Four needs it more."

"We don't have anything else to give you though," Warrior looked into the boy's eyes, the blue irises clouded with pain.

"Don't care. I've had worse. I'll deal with it until we reach the town." Time and Warriors shared a look before nodding. Time motioned for Sky to uncork the fairy and she set to work on healing their small friend's wound.

"I normally wouldn't suggest this but I think we should go ahead and remove the arrow. I don't like the look of this strange arrowhead. " Warriors and Legend both agreed and, after bracing the younger boy against his friend, Time broke the shaft close to the entry wound and then grabbed the head to pull it cleanly out.

Legend moaned in pain and collapsed against Warriors. Twilight cane forward then with one of his spare cream shirts. He knelt down as he ripped it into strips. Warriors gave him a questioning look and the fur-clad man shrugged.

"We don't have any bandages and we need to apply pressure somehow. Can't have him bleeding out can we? "

They wrapped the wound as best they could. Wild and Hyrule had come back right when they'd finished. Time stood at their return and looked around at his friends.

"We're still a day's travel from the next town. We need to get a move on so we can get Legend help. "

"Can you walk?" Warriors asked. The younger boy shook his head no.

"That's alright." Twilight said. He pulled a horse shoe shaped charm from his pack. Warriors had seen him use this charm on a few occasions. Beautiful music would chime out of it, somehow calling to Twilights horse. The steed would appear within minutes, the music somehow reaching her and leading her back to her master. Warriors thought it strange that Twilight would leave her to roam wherever she wanted, no matter whose Hyrule they were in, but she always found her way back to him. Such was their bond, he supposed.

The two of them helped Legend to mount the horse and after checking to make sure Four's wounds were healed (of course they were, fairy magic was incredible) the nine of them set back off in the direction of the village. The trip was silent. The heroes were on edge from the attack and Warriors knew that he was not the only one anticipating another battle.

A few hours later, and Warriors swore at the sight in front of him. A tall, shimmering wall stood menacingly in front of them. It was one of the portals the shadow had made to connect their worlds.

"This... this wasn't here before" Wild stammered.

"No, it wasn't. " Time said gravely. He looked at Legend, who's bandages were quickly becoming stained with red and whose face was buried in the horse's mane. "There's no way around it though, so we'll have to go through and hope it spits us out near a village." The others nodded their agreement, and they walked through the portal.

Warriors hated the feeling of crossing time. The magic of the portal clung heavily to him, pressing against him on all sides, making it hard to breathe. Cia's had been the same, reeking of magic and leaving him feeling like he'd nearly drowned. When they finally stepped to the other side, Warriors saw that evening light lit the sky here too. They were in some kind of wetland. Strange statues covered the area. The young captain glanced at his friends, searching their eyes for any sign of recognition.

"Whose Hyrule is this?" Sky asked. The was quiet as everyone waited for the answer.

"S'mine" a hoarse voice slurred. The turned to Legend, who'd lifted his head up just enough to take a look at their surroundings. He didn't look good. His face had taken on an ashy color, and pain shone brightly in his pale blue eyes. Time stepped towards him and looked carefully between the wound on his thigh and his worn face.

"Is there a village near here? We need to hurry," Time asked, his voice was soft, but Warriors thought he could hear the worry hidden in it.

"There's only one village in my Hyrule... and it's another half day's travel to the north." Legend groaned and made a gesture like he wanted to grab at the arrow wound, but had suddenly thought better of it.

"Is there anything closer?" Four asked. They stood there anxiously as they waited for Legend to answer.

"M-my storehouse is near here. I might have some supplies there... or Ravio might. I... I told him he could stay there for a while. "

They all agreed, it was their best chance. They headed in the direction Legend told them, their pace as quick as possible without running the risk of jostling their injured friend. By the time the inky blackness of night started to creep its way into the sky, they came upon the small building Legend used to house the items he'd collected on his adventures. Ravio was outside, packing away several different objects into a large bag at his feet. He had the hood to his robe on, purple rabbit ears hanging down his back, the vacant eyes staring a hole through Warriors as he turned at the sound of their footsteps.

"Hey! It's my dear friend Link's family. What are you doing here? Where's my buddy at?" Ravio's voice was shrill in the night air.

Twilight pulled his horse forward so that the merchant could see their friend. Ravio paused, the hood's eyes masking whatever expression was on his face.

"He's injured badly, an arrow wound, and we haven't got anything to heal him. " Twilight explained. Ravio pushed the hood off so they could see his face.

"I think I've got a red potion to spare. Come inside." The nine heroes followed him inside, Warriors offering to carry Legend. He set his friend down in a free space between a bookshelf and the small fireplace, whose fire was crackling happily and making the air inside seem stuffy. Legend's store house looked exactly the same as last time. The shelves were lined with books and old jars of colorful liquids. One corner was crammed with instruments, another with maps. It was dusty in here. Warriors felt a sneeze tickling at his nose. Ravio reached into a crate and pulled out a jar filled with a bright red liquid. He uncorked it and then gave it to Warriors. The captain helped his injured friend tip the contents into his mouth.

While Legend drank, Ravio knelt down to check the wound on his leg. The merchant froze at whatever site was beneath the dirty bandages, and then promptly jumped to his feet. He pushed through Hyrule and Four to dig inside some boxes near the fireplace, occasionally pulling something out like a bright orange flower and a jar of monster guts and then tossing it into a pot hanging above the fire. The other heroes shared worried glances at his actions.

"What are you doing? Stop touching my stuff!" Legend grumbled. The color had somewhat returned to his face, but his brow was still furrowed in pain.

Ravio whipped around at the words, glaring at their injured friend. Warriors couldn't suppress a small flinch. Suddenly, he felt as if he was no longer looking at the quirky merchant with the strange robes. It was Legend staring down at them. Legend, with his fierce eyes and quick temper and sharp wit. If he were honest, without the strange purple-black hair falling into the younger man's eyes he would be certain he was looking at his friend's twin.

"I'm trying to make you an antidote. There was some kind of poison on the arrow that shot you, so unless you'd rather lose the leg, you"ll quiet down." Ravio placed his hands on his hips, a firm look pinned to the boy leaning on Warriors' shoulder. Legend snorted and then winced as he attempted to make himself more comfortable.

"Whatever, just don't make a mess," Legend harrumphed. Ravio rolled his eyes, but didn't respond. He went back to digging through his friend's things for the ingredients he needed. Wild shifted his way around his friends in the cramped space so he could help Ravio make the potion.

Hyrule bent forward to peek inside the hastily wrapped bandages. From Warrior's position he could tell the red potion the merchant had given them had already started to work its magic. The bloody hole from the arrow had started to close, fresh pink skin slowly stitching itself back together. The odd lad was right though, strange black tendrils were moving from the injury and slowly spreading up, staining the skin it touched with a dark color, like the deepest of bruises. Warriors had a terrible suspicion it wouldn't stop spreading until it reached his friend's heart.

"I've never seen a wound like this," Hyrule muttered, replacing the soiled bandages.

"Neither have I," Time said as he moved from the door to where they were sitting. "It's strange too, isn't it, that one of our own would be injured like this the day after a thief makes off with most of our healing supplies."

"Do you think this was planned?" Four questioned. His tunic was still blood stained from the slice to his stomach the enchanted bokoblin had given him earlier. Warriors sent a thankful prayer up to the goddesses that the thief had missed the lone fairy in Wind's bag. He didn't want to even consider where they'd be if that wound had had to be left untreated as well.

"Given all the strange occurrences lately? I'd say yes."

"But why though?" Wind's higher pitched voice drifted over to them from where he was trying to sneakily keep guard at the window. Warriors suppressed a chuckle. The young lad was obviously trying to mimic Twilight, who was ever so carefully leaning against the other window in what appeared nonchalance. Truly though, the fur-clad man's entire focus was on peering outside the dusty glass pane at the darkness outside.

"I think the shadow is toying with us. Monsters and people somehow crossing portal boundaries, thieves getting the better of us and then disappearing without a trace, and now a poison none of us has ever seen before. It's like it's trying to overwhelm us." Time set his sword against one of the worn crates that took up the majority of the space in Legend's 'home.' The other heroes nodded their agreement as Wild and Ravio moved away from the hearth towards Legend and Warriors, a steaming bowl of foul-smelling orange potion in the merchant's hands.

"What's 'the shadow?'" Ravio asked as he knelt down. "That's certainly a strange sounding monster." The heroes shared a look.

"Not important," Time muttered. "Is that the antidote?" He asked a little louder. Ravio nodded.

"It's a bit tricky to make, and it's more of a cure-all then something specifically made to fight this type of poison, but I showed your long haired relative here." He glanced at Wild beside him. "You seem to have quite a skill in potion making." Wild shrugged.

"I've made a lot of elixirs during my travels," he said. Ravio just nodded again and then motioned for Warriors to help Legend sit up a little straighter. The blonde boy winced as he was moved, a slight moan of pain escaping his lips. The black tendrils had moved higher now and Legend was gripping his thigh tightly where they concentrated the most, as if he thought with a strong enough grip he could keep them at bay.

"Slow sips," Ravio instructed. He held the bowl as Legend took his first gulp. The injured boy pulled a face and sputtered.

"That's disgusting!" He complained. Everyone in the room seemed to roll their eyes as one.

"Of course it is, when are potions not? Just shut up and drink." Warriors ordered. Legend grumbled through a wince but took another drink.

It took a few minutes for the potion to be fully drunk. Ravio was strictly monitoring how fast Legend sipped it, apparently it had a tendency to make people sick. When he was done, Warriors helped him lie down. Sky had found a pillow and thick blanket in the cupboard. They got the boy as comfortable as possible and then moved away to let him rest.

"What do we do next?" Warriors asked. Time stroked his chin and glanced at the merchant who was busying himself with cleaning up the ingredients he'd used to make the antidote.

"Later. Let's just all rest now. We've had a very trying day."

They rested a full day before preparing to make their leave. Sky and Four had made a list of the supplies they needed and Ravio had offered to make his way to the village and purchase it for them. (For a cost of course.) Legend had slept until the morning of their departure, which Ravio explained was normal as the antidote normally made people very drowsy. Warriors was happy to see that the arrow wound was gone, as well as all traces of the poison that had been in his system. Legend thanked his dark haired friend, a little begrudgingly, Warrior noticed. Ravio just grinned widely at the halfhearted gesture. Warriors stared at the smile that went cheek-to-cheek and noticed for the first time that the over exaggerated expression didn't seem natural on the younger boy's face. It was almost like a mask, a tricky one of embellished gestures and ludicrous smiles. It was like he didn't want them to look upon his natural face, that there was something so important about how he really looked that he needed to fool them all. The suspicion was shoved to the back of his mind though as Ravio handed Legend a bundle of cloth. Legend unwrapped it just enough so he could look inside.

"It's just some extra rolls of bandages and a few red potions I had lying about. The ingredients for that antidote I made you are also in there. Seems like you might have need of it again." Legend nodded and carefully stowed the bundle into his magic bag.

The group of heroes said their goodbyes to the odd merchant and then headed back towards the portal that had taken them into Legend's Hyrule. Warriors wondered if he should bring up his suspicions to his snarky friend, but suddenly decided against it. The nine of them had enough to worry about at the moment and truthfully, he had the feeling Legend already knew about the boy's pretense. So instead, he clapped his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. Legend shrugged him off with a scowl.

"Onward we go my friends," Warrior stated to the group. Eight pairs of eyes found his, "And let us hope we can finally catch this shadow, once and for all!" Smiles and cheers echoed in the morning air around them as they crossed through the shimmering portal once more.


End file.
